The many faces of pay variation

Research on pay variation and organizational outcomes has yielded inconsistent results. We argue that this is due to a lack of construct clarity regarding pay variation, and we attempt to provide clarification by distinguishing among the sources and types of pay variation. Using these distinctions, we integrate different theoretical perspectives on pay variation, and we propose avenues through which different kinds of pay variations affect outcomes. This clarification also elucidates some measurement concerns affecting pay variation studies.